How Shannon Sharpe Found His Voice

The Fox Sports host has become one of the most outspoken and vital voices in sports television. Here, a candid conversation on everything from social issues to the NFL to his relationship with Skip Bayless.

Hall-of-Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe spent a decade as a commentator on CBS Sports’ pregame show The NFL Today before he was let go in 2014. Two years later, Sharpe found a much larger platform, as a co-host on Fox Sports 1’s debate show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, with Skip Bayless and Joy Taylor.

And it's there he found his voice: entertaining, but with an honesty and candidness that has made him into one of the most important voices on sports television today. He went in on Donald Trump’s anti-protest comments. He has been critical of his good friend Ray Lewis for dropping down on both knees during the national anthem when he said he wouldn't. He also pulled out a Black & Mild cigar to celebrate on live TV.

Recently, we talked to Sharpe about the importance of speaking out about social issues, why he considers himself the best dressed sports personality on television, and what he wants to ask Roger Goodell.

GQ: Did you know this is what you would be doing after your NFL career was done?Shannon Sharpe: No. When I was in it, I never thought about doing this. But I was honest, and I remember reporters would tell me I would have a great career in this because I was candid and I didn’t mind talking. When I retired, I got the CBS job, I was there for 10 years and once I was let go, I knew I needed a bigger platform. I wanted to talk about more than just football. I wanted to talk about things in longer than five to 10 second clips. I’m more like Facebook. I need time to explain things. I can’t be 140 characters. This platform gives me an opportunity to talk about everything, from sports to social issues. It allows me to be me.

I take my hat off to Skip. He went to bat for me. There were some higher-ups who didn’t think I could get the job done. Skip told them, “I know he can do it. I believe in him.” My job is to prove Skip right, so I’m as prepared as I can possibly be. But the most important thing Skip told me when I got the job was, “I want you to be you.” And what you see on a daily basis is me.

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Where does your candidness come from?That’s the only way I know how to be. You can tell the truth, but sometimes you can’t always be in your face with it. I found a way to tell the truth, and put it in a nice, neat package for people to receive it. A lot of times, you have to put it in a nice, neat box with a bow tie and when they open it, it’s the truth. I think people respect that.

You’re very outspoken when it comes to social issues. Did it take time for you to be comfortable talking about those topics on a national platform?All I’m doing is pointing out what other people see. A lot of people are already thinking what I am saying. A lot of people are afraid and think they can’t say things, but you can. People want the truth sometimes, but not all the time. People will be like, “It’ll get better, just don’t mention it.” But it’s not getting better. It’s like if you went to the doctor, and the doctor said you had an illness, and they said we won’t treat it for two years, it’ll just get better. No. A lot of problems that are going on aren’t going to get better if we don’t talk about it.

Race is the biggest one. It’s a very, very uncomfortable topic because the biggest part of America was founded on it. So I’m going to discuss it and try to present it in such a way to people are like, “Let’s sit down and have a discussion about this.” It’s not easy. I was born in the 1960s. I came up in the 1970s. I know how race relations were. The thing is I want to advance the ball, and never return to those days again. I want to keep the topic going. I’m going to discuss it. And we’re going to make America better. It’s my job as a citizen, and I demand it.

Do you think having these conversations with Skip, who is from a different background with different experiences than you, has helped you see things from a different perspective as well?Definitely. I have a unique perspective because I grew up very poor in rural South Georgia and now I’m financially secure, so I get to see both ends of the spectrum and how one is treated differently. I can’t sit here and say, because I’m great, everything is cool. That’s not how my grandmother Mary Porter raised me, that just because I’m okay and a majority of people are not okay, I should just be comfortable. I can’t not in good conscience lay my head in my pillow and have those thoughts and feelings when so many people are suffering. Skip is from Oklahoma, and he will preface his opinion a lot by saying that he’s a white man and he sees things through this prism. The one thing I can say about him is that he has opened his heart and mind, and that’s what we need. If more people were willing to do that, I think we would be better off.

"Skip is from Oklahoma, and he will preface his opinion a lot by saying that he’s a white man and he sees things through this prism. The one thing I can say about him is that he has opened his heart and mind, and that’s what we need."

What’s your favorite part about working on Undisputed?The platform I’ve been given. The opportunity to meet athletes I would have never met otherwise. I meet athletes from different backgrounds and see they share the same mentality and process as other athletes in other sports. To see some of the greats come on and talk about how they view things, the era they played in, how it was different from the era before and after them. Talking to guys like Jesse Jackson and Michael Eric Dyson. It’s unbelievable. When these athletes come on, I’m like a kid. I’m like a casual fan meeting their favorite athlete for the first time.

Has meeting these athletes changed your perspective on sports?A lot of the football players that come on the show, they’re a lot younger than I am. For me, having played the game of football, I look at it through a much different lens. I don’t look at it from a fan’s perspective. I’m always trying to analyze and critique things when I’m watching sporting events. That’s why I never have the sound on. I like to watch it on mute, because I don’t want anyone to influence anything I say.

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But just to hear athletes talk and analyze their sports, I’m like, wow, I never would have thought of that. We had Magic Johnson on, and to hear him talk basketball for 30 minutes and how he approached and saw the game, or to hear Sugar Ray Leonard talk about the fine art and science of boxing, I’m just like, wow.

Are you the best dressed sports personality on television?No doubt whatsoever.

What makes that so?Just the way my suit fits. The ensemble that I put together. The combinations that I use. I would be hard pressed to say that someone on television outdresses me.

Are there other people who inspire your sense of style?Not really. There was times where I’ll see people wear some pieces, and I’m like, man, I wonder how that would look on me. I would call my two stylists and ask what they think and they’ll tell me yay or nay, but I get final say. I definitely rely on them heavily for advice and opinions, because things that look good to the naked eye don't necessarily translate on television, and I always have to keep that in mind.

So what makes your suits look good on television?The individual that’s wearing it has to wear it with confidence. There are a lot of things that I want to wear as far as colors, and I’m like, nah, that might come off as clownish. I stick to simple colors, like my greys and my blues, and once in awhile, I wear salmon. It’s also about the fit of the suit. The suit shouldn’t fall away from the neck. You can’t have it too tight or it will open the vents in the back. You can’t have it too big or it will look like you lost a bunch of weight but you don’t want to get rid of the suit. Suits should be fitted, not tight. Those are two different things. It’s a fine balance. I’m a muscular guy, I can’t buy off the rack. I want a nice smooth look so when the camera is rotating and you see me from the back, there should be no puckering for the suit.

Is there a color that you want to try that you haven’t?I mean, I have a salmon jacket, I have orange pants, I have some light greens, I’ll try different things but not all together. If I have a bold top piece, I will tone the bottom down. I don’t want to look like a pimp [laughs].

Aside from Undisputed, You also got a chance to be a correspondent at the Westminster Dog Show this year.It was unbelievable. That was on my bucket list. I went to Game 7 of the World Series and honestly, I had more fun at the Westminster Dog Show. Never in a million years did I think I would be a correspondent and to be backstage and see so many different breeds was amazing. I’ve had rottweilers, akitas, bullmastiffs, and two pomeranians now. I started watching the Westminster Dog Show like 25 years ago, and when I saw people walking by there, I started guessing what kind of dog they had, and they were like, wow, you really know your dogs. It was amazing. I had a great time just seeing the dogs. The dogs warmed up to me too because they know I love them.

You bumped into LeBron James a few weeks ago.I did. I was running a few errands, and my assistant went to put money in the parking meter, and she called and told me LeBron James was crossing the street and told me to hurry up and come out of the store. He saw me, and we obviously had to take a selfie.

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Where do you think he’s playing next season?Cleveland.

If you could sit down with Roger Goodell, what would you want to ask him?Roger, what are we going to do to take care of the guys that the NFL was built upon. What can we do to help those guys? How are we going to make sure they’re not forgotten, not that they can’t score anymore touchdowns, sack anymore quarterbacks, and can’t catch anymore passes?

Do you know you are probably responsible for a lot of people in America looking up Black & Mild and hen-dog?So I hear, so I hear [laughs]. I don’t know if that’s a good thing but I think the culture appreciates it. People just don’t think someone like myself would actually buy that. I know a lot more than what I say. That’s what takes people by surprise, the mere fact that someone like me would know about Russian Cream Backwoods. That’s what surprises them. They’re judging a book by his cover, like, he shouldn't know that. I know that, but he shouldn’t know that.

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